Perception and satisfaction with dental appearance and its association with oral health related quality of life among students at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Dental esthetics has not been seen to be important in most developing countries and research in this regard is meager. Due to rapid increase in global network the effect of a pleasant appearance is now recognized to be very important, hence may lead to changes in person’s esthetics needs and may affect dental treatment priority. Aim: To determine the level of dental appearance/aesthesis and to assess perceived dental appearance, satisfaction with dental appearance and their association with oral health related quality of life among students at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences’ (MUHAS). Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences. A census of 492 undergraduate students in 1st and 2nd year of study, response rate 82.7%, was involved in the study, in December 2010. The subject’s were given self administered questionnaire where socio-demographic information was recorded and questions on perception and satisfaction with dental appearance were asked. Oral health related quality of life was assessed using Oral Impact on Daily Performance (OIDP) inventory. Clinical examinations was performed under natural day light by one dentists with good intraexaminer variability (Kappa = 0.85), and findings recorded in specially designed clinical forms. Prior to examination the anterior teeth (Incisors and canines) were cleaned and dried with gauze. Dental appearance was evaluated by using index for assessing dental Aesthetic. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 15 whereby Chi square statistics and logistic regressions with statistical level of significance of p< 0.05 were utilized. Results: In this study, 492 participants were involved. Age ranged from 18 – 57 years old, mean age was 22.9, sd = 3.9, and greater proportion of participants 421 (85.6%) were in age group 18 – 25. Considering gender, greater proportion of participants were males 334 (67.9%) with male to female ratio of 2.1:1. School-wise, medicine contributed greater proportion 52.6% of participants and school of dentistry at least 5.5%. Generally 30.7% of participants, v perceived to have poor dental appearance, 21.5% were not satisfied with their dental appearance, while clinical examination revealed that 67.7% of participants had at least one factor for poor dental appearance. Prevalence of OIDP was 60.6%. The most affected performances were eating (46.1%) and cleaning (40.0%) and the least affected being speaking (11.4%). Those who reported impacts on performances were more likely to be females (OR - 1.5, CI: 1 – 2) those who perceived to have poor dental appearance (OR: 2.4, CI: 1.6 - 3.7), those who were not satisfied with their dental appearance (OR: 3.1, CI: 1.9 - 5.2) and those who objectively determined to have poor dental appearance (OR: 1.7, CI: 1.1 - 2.5). Furthermore those who had dental caries were about 6 times more likely to report an impact on their daily performances (OR: 6.6, CI: 2.3 – 18.6) Conclusion: Despite the high prevalence of objectively assessed poor dental appearance a high percentage of the university students perceived to have good dental appearance and were also satisfied with their dental appearance. The impacts of oral conditions to their dental appearance were substantial. There is, therefore, a need to raise the students’ awareness on their poor oral health status so that they may be positively motivated to seek necessary intervention